Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) antenatal and (b) postnatal care.

Evidence suggests that continuity of carer can significantly improve outcomes for women and their babies. The commitment in the NHS Long Term Plan, for women to receive continuity of carer during pregnancy, during birth and postnatally, will ensure that women receive safer and more personalised maternity care, improving outcomes for both mother and baby.

It is now also a contractual requirement for general practitioners (GPs) to offer a maternal postnatal consultation at six to eight weeks after birth, as an addition to the six to eight week baby check. £12 million of new funding has been invested through the GP Contract to support all practices to deliver this. The maternal postnatal consultation should focus on a review of the mother’s physical and mental health and general wellbeing, using open questioning.